Firefighters battle weekend blazes

Firefighters were kept busy over the weekend with a blaze at a Bartlesville storage facility and area grass fires, on top of normal medical calls, according to a Bartlesville Fire Department official.

At approximately 6:30 p.m. Saturday, there were multiple reports of a fire involving Acorn Storage on 14th Street in west Bartlesville.

“Upon arrival, firefighters found multiple units involved with flames coming from the roof of the storage unit structure,” BFD Assistant Fire Chief and Public Information Officer Bill Hollander said today.

According to Hollander, there are 15 storage units in the building and eight of them sustained heavy fire damage. The remaining units sustained smoke and heat damage.

“It was particularly difficult due to the large amount of hose that had to be strung,” Hollander said, explaining that the closest fire hydrant was more than 2,000 feet away. “Also, the fact that (there was) narrow access between buildings.”

Hollander said most of the units were nearly packed full, which also made it difficult to extinguish the fire.

“We ended up bringing in a backhoe and were able to utilize the backhoe to scoop the contents out of the various storage units and then we pushed all of the debris to the south end of the structure, where it could be spread out and extinguished thoroughly,” Hollander said.

He said it took approximately one hour to get the fire under control, as well as several additional hours to extinguish hot spots.

“Fires like this are always difficult in nature due to the unknowns involved,” Hollander said. “Firefighters don’t know what could be in the storage unit, hazardous materials to flammables to propane bottles … we have to use extreme caution when battling these kinds of fires.”

According to Hollander, the cause of the fire is still undetermined. He said the facility is in Osage County and he has contacted the State Fire Marshal’s Office to investigate further.

“All of us firefighters feel extremely sad for the losses that the renters incurred. We understand that many treasures and mementos were more than likely lost,” Hollander said.

Hollander said there was a grass fire in a field south of 18th Street, in the area of Rogers and Elm, on Friday. Washington County Emergency Management and Airport Road Fire Department assisted.

The field was involved in a similar grass fire on Saturday, he said.

He said firefighters spent several hours both days extinguishing the fires and estimated 20 acres burned each day.

The cause of the fires is unknown.

“However, juveniles were seen in the area both times,” Hollander said, adding that if anyone has information on those fire, they should call Crimestoppers at 918-336-2583.